


Five Days

by sunwoo



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Best Friends Choi Beomgyu & Choi Yeonjun, Books, Bookstores, Established Choi Beomgyu/Huening Kai, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Ferris Wheels, First Love, M/M, Mentioned Shin Ryujin, Not sure how to tag without spoiling it but read the archive warning hehe, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28681938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunwoo/pseuds/sunwoo
Summary: Everyone has a tattoo of the last words their soulmate will say to them.Yeonjun's wish to be with his soulmate disappears when Soobin visits the bookstore at which he works, and he experiences feelings for the first time.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu & Choi Yeonjun, Choi Beomgyu/Huening Kai, Choi Soobin & Choi Yewon | Arin, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Choi Yeonjun & Huening Kai
Comments: 26
Kudos: 83
Collections: yeonbin_ficfest_2021





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> this is my yeonbin soulmate au for the yeonbin 2021 ficfest on twitter! #yeonbinficfest2021

Yeonjun didn’t like reading books.

‘If it’s really _that_ good, I’ll wait for the movie,’ he’d tell anyone who asked him why.

So when his parents told him he had to take up a part-time job at the local bookstore or else they wouldn't allow him to live on campus again for his next semester of college, he felt like it was some sort of joke.

Choi Yeonjun… working at a bookstore? It sounded so unbelievable, even to Yeonjun himself.

But for the past two weeks, he worked as Seoul Book Bogo’s shelver and while it was simple and quiet, he went home every day to his best friend Beomgyu to complain about his job.

“Please shut up,” Beomgyu whined on one occasion. “They pay you so well! _And_ you don’t have anyone to constantly annoy you! Be grateful you don’t work at the supermarket like me. I was so excited at first because my brother used to work there and he told me they let you eat the leftover food samples, but this dude named Taehyun who works two aisles down _always_ gives out more samples than me and gets _so_ many people to buy the products that it makes me look bad in front of our supervisor! That Taehyun… and he’s younger than me, too! Hyung, do you have any idea how much this hurts my pride?! Ah, I should really quit… but the free ramen samples…”

“Yah, shut up about your ramen,” Yeonjun said in a teasingly-annoyed tone, then looked out the window and sighed. “I know it’s a good job, but it’s just so… I don’t know, but it feels like something is missing, you know?”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes. “Hyung, your loneliness doesn’t have anything to do with your job. You’re just acting all depressed because you don’t have anyone special in your life. You’re always like this during the summer.”

“No, I’m not,” Yeonjun scoffed.

“Do I really need to remind you of last year? I was on my second date with Kai here in my room when you barged in crying and throwing my stuff off the desk and table just because you saw a couple at the Han river. You scared him away that night, you prick. You’re lucky he didn’t leave me or else I would’ve strangled you to dea—”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Yeonjun hit Beomgyu’s arm repeatedly before calming down and staring out the window again. “You’re right… I am lonely, but you know I’m too scared to like someone. What if I give someone my everything and they’re not my soulmate?”

At that, Beomgyu inched closer to his best friend and wrapped his arms around him.

“You’ll find the right person, hyung, trust me. Besides, you won’t know if that person’s your soulmate until they say whatever’s on your wrist, and at that point, it’s too late, so who cares if you find someone you love, and in sixty years, it turns out they’re not your soulmate? What matters is you and that person made each other happy in your lifetimes.”

It was silent for a moment. “Do you think Kai is your soulmate?”

“Yeah,” said Beomgyu after thinking for a few seconds. “When I met him, I just felt a special connection like I was meant to be with him every day and make him happy and all that lovey-dovey stuff. It’s been over a year, and I still feel that way. It doesn’t matter if he isn’t my soulmate though. All that matters is that we love each other and want to be together for the rest of our lives if we get the chance to. That’s what a relationship is all about, right? Being together happily until the end?”

Yeonjun slowly nodded.

“So don’t worry so much about finding your soulmate, and just do what feels right.”

Several days later, Yeonjun still thought about Beomgyu’s words while he carefully placed some books back on their shelf. What exactly did he mean by ‘what feels right?’

“Um, excuse me?”

The sudden voice interrupted Yeonjun’s train of thought. He quickly shook his head and turned to look at the person behind him, and there stood a tall, blue-haired boy holding a very big book in his hands.

“Yes?” Yeonjun finally let out once he realized he had spent too much time staring at the surprisingly handsome stranger.

“Do you work here?” The boy asked shyly. At Yeonjun’s nod, he continued: “I was looking for the sequel to this. Could you help me?”

Yeonjun looked down at the book and immediately recognized the title as he had stocked several copies of the sequel on a shelf just moments before. “Oh, I know where it is. Follow me.”

He led the boy across the store and grabbed a copy (that was just as big as—if not bigger than—the first installment of the series), holding it out for the other to take.

The boy quickly took it, his eyes happily looking all over the cover. “Thank goodness, it’s here. I thought I would have to go all around the city to find it. I just got to Seoul, so I didn’t really know where to look at first until I saw this place. It’s a very beautiful store.”

“Oh, what brings you to Seoul?” Yeonjun asked before he could stop the words from leaving his mouth. He never really spoke to customers unless necessary, but something about the dimpled boy in front of him made him want to know more.

“I’m visiting a cousin who lives nearby, but I’m not staying for long. I’m from Ansan, but I’m currently studying in the States and have to be back before the semester starts in a couple of weeks.”

And again, Yeonjun’s mouth had a mind of its own. “I could show you around Seoul if you’d like. It’s a great city, and it’d really be a shame if you didn’t get to experience all of its beauty while you’re here. I don’t work tomorrow.”

The boy gave him a bright smile. “Okay, tomorrow it is.”


	2. Day Two

The next day, Yeonjun found himself struggling to choose what to wear for the first time in his life. He usually knew exactly what to wear every day due to his quick sense of style, but today, he was suddenly having trouble choosing between three different types of jeans.

The three pairs of jeans were different shades of blue (yet barely noticeably), and for some reason, Yeonjun couldn’t decide between the three of them.

It wasn’t until he heard himself unconsciously ask ‘Which of these would he like the most?’ that he snapped out of it and hit himself on the back of his head.

‘Yah, Choi Yeonjun, what are you saying…?’ He asked himself.

He then sighed and picked one pair at random, finally getting ready for the day and heading towards the spot where they planned to meet.

Yesterday, the two had decided on meeting right outside the bookstore, seeing as Yeonjun’s new friend wasn’t really familiar with other locations in Seoul.

When Yeonjun got there, he saw the blue-haired boy already waiting by the steps in front of the store looking at his phone.

Rushing over, Yeonjun put a smile on his face and waved. “Hello! I hope you didn’t wait long.”

“No, no, I didn’t. Don’t worry. I came a bit early in case I got lost, but thankfully I didn’t.”

Yeonjun hummed in understanding.

“Ah, that reminds me… We never introduced ourselves, right? I’m Soobin, born in 2000.”

“I’m Yeonjun from 1999, so call me ‘hyung,’ okay?” Yeonjun smiled. “Wow, can’t believe we decided to meet up without even knowing each others’ names.”

“Right?” Soobin laughed. “You could’ve been a serial killer for all I know.”

“Hey! Why me? You could’ve been a serial killer, too!” Yeonjun pouted.

“True, but you were the one who offered to show me around the city in the first place, so if either of us is a serial killer, it’d be you,” Soobin said with a smile.

“Well, I’m not.” Yeonjun smiled back. “So I promise not to murder you. Shall we?” He motioned towards the sidewalk, earning a nod from Soobin.

And so the two walked together as they enjoyed the warm weather.

When Yeonjun felt the gentle breeze hit his exposed arms, he suddenly smiled and looked down at his bare arms. He loved this kind of weather, and his choice of a short sleeve t-shirt and jeans was almost perfect for it.

Upon looking at Soobin, though, his happy expression turned confused as he realized Soobin was wearing a long sleeve shirt underneath a short sleeve t-shirt. Didn’t exactly seem to be summer fashion to Yeonjun, but he ignored it for the time being as Soobin suddenly spoke up.

“Whoa, is that a cat café? I’ve always wanted to go to one of those!” Soobin exclaimed, jogging over to the glass of the café and covering his eyes from the sun as he tried to peer into the cafe and look at the cats. “Look, there’s a cute striped one there! I wanna go see them!” He jumped up and down in excitement like a small child.

Yeonjun found it cute.

“Let’s go, then.” He opened the door and let Soobin go in first.

Soobin immediately sat on the floor next to a couple of cats, who then began to climb on top of his long legs. He excitedly petted all of them and even brought one in for a hug.

“Hyung, come play with the kitties!”

Yeonjun, while feeling his heart rapidly beat in his chest due to Soobin calling him ‘hyung’ in such a cute manner, shook his head and pointed at the big menu display on the wall by the cash registers. “Let me buy you something to drink first. My treat. What would you like?”

Soobin frowned. “You don’t have to.” Then, he thought for a moment. “But an iced latte, please.”

So Yeonjun went and ordered his and Soobin’s drinks, then sat down next to Soobin, who was trying to round up all the cats.

With a big pout, Soobin looked at Yeonjun. “That orange one over there hates me. He won’t come to sit with me.”

“Maybe he’s just having a bad day,” said Yeonjun with a chuckle. “Cats probably have bad days just like people. Maybe his cat wife divorced him earlier today.”

Soobin giggled at the joke and went back to looking at the cats in his lap. “These two must be having a great day, then. They seem to like me—Hey, let go of my sleeve!”

One of the cats had pulled on the sleeve of Soobin’s shirt, and while Soobin gently tugged his sleeve in the other direction, Yeonjun was reminded of his curiosity as to why Soobin was wearing long sleeves in the summer in the first place.

“Hey, Soobin?”

Soobin tugged one last time, and the cat finally let go. After straightening the sleeve back out, he turned to Yeonjun once more. “Yeah?”

“Why are you wearing that? Isn’t it hot?”

“Yes, but…” A pause. “I don’t like to show my soulmate tattoo.”

At that moment, one of the café workers walked up to them and placed their drinks on the small table beside them. The pair thanked her and took each of their drinks.

As Yeonjun drank some of his cold brew coffee, he began to think that maybe he shouldn’t have asked Soobin about his shirt. If it had to do with his soulmate tattoo, it must have been such a rude and invasive question. Just as he was about to apologize, though, Soobin continued speaking.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about, really, but I don’t like showing it,” he said, taking a sip of his own drink.

“Where is it exactly?”

‘What are you doing? He probably already thinks you’re a rude jerk who wants to know these private details about him and his tattoo. Just shut up already, Yeonjun,’ the poor pink-haired boy thought to himself as soon as the question left his mouth. Why didn’t he seem to be able to think before he spoke when it came to Soobin?

“Right here,” Soobin said as he pointed to a section of his left arm right above his inner elbow. And suddenly, to Yeonjun’s surprise, Soobin turned to Yeonjun with a bright smile, as if the question and answering it hadn’t bothered him at all. “Where’s yours?”

Yeonjun stared back at Soobin for a moment—a moment that felt like an eternity but was likely only a second or two—before blinking and remembering what situation he was in.

“On my left ankle.”

He pointed at his left foot, and Soobin nodded as he saw the sock covering all of the skin that wasn’t already covered by Yeonjun’s jeans or shoes.

“You hide yours, too?” Soobin asked. “I don’t know many people who do that besides myself.”

“Oh, me neither. That’s why I was surprised about your… outfit choice.”

“Don’t say it like that! It sounds like you think my outfit looks bad,” Soobin frowned, but Yeonjun could tell it was playful, and the other wasn’t genuinely mad.

“Well, you _could_ use some of my fashion help. I wouldn’t pair white shoes with this dark shade of gray, but don’t feel bad. You look great.”

Soobin smiled at the comment, and Yeonjun felt his cheeks heat up.

‘Are you seriously blushing? Yah, you’re the one who gave the compliment, not the one who received it, so why are you flustered all of a sudden?’ thought Yeonjun as he turned away to sip from his drink.

“Can I ask why you hide it?” Soobin asked suddenly.

Yeonjun slowly turned to look at Soobin again and saw a curious look on the younger’s face. Yeonjun rarely talked about this, but he, for some reason, felt comfortable telling Soobin even though they had met just the day before.

“It’s a bit of a long story…”

“I’ll listen,” said Soobin with a dimpled smile.

And how was Yeonjun supposed to say ‘no’ to that?

“When my mom was 20 years old,” Yeonjun started. “She met my dad at a college party. He was the most handsome guy on campus, or so my mom said.

“She thought she would have never had a chance with him, but that night, he went up to her, and they talked and talked and talked, and by midnight, he told her that he felt a special connection with her as if they were soulmates.

“My mom believed him and believed she, too, felt that special connection, and after dating for a couple of weeks, he suddenly said the words on her soulmate tattoo before leaving for the night. My mom got so scared, thinking he was her soulmate who was about to leave her forever because they were the exact words on her tattoo, so she chased after him while crying.

“He didn’t pay attention to her until they got to a crowded spot on campus, and then, he… he announced to everyone that he got paid by my mom’s ex-best friend who knew her tattoo words by heart, to pretend to love my mom to embarrass her in front of the whole university.

“My mom was heartbroken, as you’d assume, but to make matters worse, she found out a few weeks later that she was pregnant… with me. Because of that jerk who played with her feelings and left her like that.

“And ever since I can remember she’s told me not to let anyone know what my tattoo says, not even my best friend. I’ve told her every time that my best friend, Beomgyu, with who I’ve been best friends since I was eight, would never do something like that to me, but she made me promise not to tell _anyone_ , so no one knows what it says, and it has to stay that way.”

Soobin had listened carefully to Yeonjun’s story the entire time, and by the end, he placed his hand on top of Yeonjun’s and said, “That’s really sad. I’m sorry that happened to your mom.”

“It’s okay,” said Yeonjun who couldn’t take his eyes off his and Soobin’s hands. His heart rate picked up again, but he tried his best to ignore it.

“The world’s really full of sick people like that,” Soobin said with a sigh, taking his hand away from Yeonjun’s to pick up his drink. “Things would be better if soulmate tattoos just didn’t exist.”

Before Yeonjun had even gotten time to process Soobin’s words, Soobin stood up (the cats who were formerly on his lap had left during Yeonjun’s story) and took the last sip of his latte before throwing it away.

“I liked this café, but let’s go somewhere else now. I wanna see the outside,” said Soobin.

So Yeonjun stood up and threw his drink away as well and followed Soobin outside.

“Where to now?” Yeonjun asked.

“Hmm… is there a park around here?” wondered Soobin, earning a nod from the older.

“Yep, not too far from here, too.”

When the pair arrived at the park, Soobin looked amazed by practically everything around them from the trees to the flowers to the small ponds of water.

“Never seen a park before?” joked Yeonjun.

Soobin laughed. “Not like this one, I haven’t. I’m so used to the parks back in the States. They’re all crowded and gross, but this is… this is really pretty.”

‘You’re really pretty, too,’ thought Yeonjun, who, after hearing himself, flicked his own forehead. ‘Don’t think stuff like that, Yeonjun. You just met him.’

“Look at the cute little ducks!”

Soobin grabbed Yeonjun’s arm and took him over to the bench right in front of the pond full of ducks.

“Do you think I can get away with feeding them some bread? I think I saw a vendor a while ago…”

“Soobin, you’d get kicked out of the park for feeding them,” laughed Yeonjun.

Soobin laughed, too. “Okay, fair, but they’re so cute! Aw, look at this one, here! She’s looking at you!”

Yeonjun looked, and as Soobin said, the duck the younger was pointing at was looking directly at him.

Freaked out just a little, Yeonjun stood up and took a couple of steps back. “The duck looks like she wants to eat me. Soobin, let’s go before this place turns into a murder crime scene.”

Soobin laughed loudly at that. “You’re really scared of a cute, little duck?” He asked teasingly but followed Yeonjun away from the pond anyway.

“The duck really could’ve charged at me and killed me, you know.”

Soobin only hummed in response, holding back more laughter.

After walking for some time in the park (away from any ponds, of course), Soobin suddenly looked up at the pink, cloudy sky in awe.

“The sky’s so beautiful in Seoul… I wish I could see it better, though. All the large buildings and trees here block the view.”

Yeonjun gasped. “Soobin, you have to go to Lotte World and ride the Ferris wheel! You can see so much from up there! You’d love it. You can see the sky, _and_ all the buildings and people look super tiny. It’s probably open tomorrow.”

Soobin smiled. “Can you take me, then? If you’re not busy, that is.”

Yeonjun froze. He had no idea Soobin would ask for _him_ to take him there. Not that he didn’t want to see Soobin's pretty face light up at all the attractions and games. Trust him, he wanted it so badly, but his heart had acted up one too many times during his outing with Soobin today that he worried that asking him to meet up again tomorrow would have been the end of him.

Soobin asking him instead of the other way around seemed to cause Yeonjun to have a similar reaction as to how he thought he would have acted if he had asked Soobin to go to Lotte World with him. His palms were sweaty, his feet were stuck in the ground, and his heart—his damn heart—was racing _yet_ again.

“Cool. Let’s go to Lotte World together tomorrow,” Yeonjun said as calmly as he could.

Soobin smiled. “Awesome! Now, can I have your number so I can let you know what time I’m available? I’ll have to ask my cousin to drop me off and everything, so…”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. I’ll give you my number.”

Yeonjun’s trembling hands took Soobin’s phone and entered his phone number, then Soobin took Yeonjun’s phone and did the same.

“I’m a little embarrassed to say this,” started Soobin as he rubbed his arm. “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to find my way back to my cousin’s place on my own.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Yeonjun said quickly. “I want to make sure you get there safely anyway. It’s a big city.”

“Thanks, hyung!” Soobin said happily. “I’ll give you his address, so we can go right away.”

So Yeonjun took Soobin home that night and made sure to see him enter the apartment, close the door, and lock it behind him before he turned around and made his own way home for the night, excited for tomorrow’s trip to Lotte World with the boy who made him feel so many exciting emotions.


	3. Day Three

The next morning, Yeonjun woke up to Beomgyu repeatedly hitting his cheek with a cold spoon.

“Hyung, wake up.”

Yeonjun groaned and pushed Beomgyu away as he sat up. “What? What is it?”

“You’re out of cereal,” said Beomgyu with a playful laugh. He ran out of the room, and Yeonjun only sighed and got out of bed.

When he left his bedroom, he saw Beomgyu and Kai throwing two empty cereal boxes at each other and decided to ignore the fact that they were doing this in hisapartment at what? Yeonjun glanced at the clock on his wall. 10 in the morning?

‘10 A.M.?!’ Yeonjun suddenly rushed back into his room and grabbed his phone. On the screen were a couple of messages from Soobin.

> **(8:39 A.M.)**
> 
> **Soobin** : Good morning Yeonjun hyung!
> 
> **Soobin** : My cousin said she could drop me off at Lotte World at around 4pm if that’s okay with you!
> 
> **Soobin** : If that’s a bad time, let me know so I can ask her to change her mind
> 
> **Soobin** : Anyways please message me back when you see this^^

Yeonjun replied after mentally cursing at himself.

> **(10:12 A.M.)**
> 
> **You** : Soobin I’m sorry I just woke up
> 
> **You** : 4pm is fine with me!! Tell your cousin to drop you off at the entrance of the outer park
> 
> **You** : See you at 4!
> 
> **Soobin** : It’s ok don’t worry I wake up kinda early so I didn’t expect a reply right away haha
> 
> **Soobin** : See you at 4 :)

Yeonjun let out a relieved sigh when he saw Soobin’s response.

At that, he left his room to go shower and get ready for the day, and when he returned to his living room, he saw Beomgyu and Kai sitting on the couch, eating cereal out of one bowl.

“Hyung, are you going out to buy more cereal?” Kai asked.

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “No. If you guys didn’t eat all my cereal every time you came here uninvited, maybe there’d still be some left.”

“You’re so mean to us,” said Beomgyu with his mouth full. “How are Ning and I supposed to get our daily nutrients provided by the most important meal of the day if we have to share half a bowl of cereal?”

“If you two bought your own—you know what? Fine, I’ll order us some McDonalds.”

“Yay!” Kai exclaimed with his arms up triumphantly. “Order us pancakes! Beomie hyung ate most of the little cereal we had in this bowl, and I’m starving.”

“No, I didn’t! See, you have one… _maybe_ two spoonfuls left in here! They’re all yours!”

“I’d rather just wait for Yeonjun hyung’s food to arrive…”

“Suit yourself,” said Beomgyu as he quickly drank the remaining milk.

Yeonjun rolled his eyes again at the couple. He ordered the food and then sat down next to Beomgyu on the couch.

“Why are you up earlier than usual?” Beomgyu asked as he searched for the TV remote. “You usually sleep in when you don’t have work.”

“I have a—”

‘Date. I have a date,’ Yeonjun almost said, and that realization made his cheeks heat up. ‘It’s not a date. It’s just two friends going to Lotte World together. That’s all there is to it. Just two friends at Lotte World.’

“A what? Hyung, spit it out! You know I can’t handle the suspense!” Kai threw a couch cushion at Yeonjun’s face, causing him to come back to reality.

“I’m, um, going out with a friend.”

Beomgyu and Kai looked at each other, then back at Yeonjun.

“All three of us know that you don’t have friends besides me and Kai.”

At that, Yeonjun grabbed the cushion from the ground and started hitting Beomgyu in the face with it.

“Ow! Stop! Stop! Okay, I take it back! You’re not friendless!”

Yeonjun stopped, earning a sigh of relief from Beomgyu.

“But do you really have a friend other than us?” Kai asked.

Yeonjun only gave him a glare.

“Not fair! How come you attack me but not Kai!”

“Because _you_ are annoying,” Yeonjun said (and Beomgyu stuck out his tongue at him and crossed his arms). “And Kai is a little angel who I’d never hurt.”

Kai smiled innocently at that. “Thanks, Yeonjun hyung! Who’s your friend, though…?”

Yeonjun tried his hardest to not seem flustered at the thought of his ‘friend.’ “His name is Soobin. I met him at the bookstore two days ago. He’s new to Seoul and won’t be here for long, so I showed him around the city yesterday, and we’re going to Lotte World today. That’s it.”

“‘That’s it?!’ Hyung, this is big! You never hang out with anyone other than us!” Beomgyu exclaimed.

“Well, did you expect me to never branch out and find new friends?"

Beomgyu shrugged. “Well, to be honest, yes.”

Yeonjun was about to grab the couch cushion again when Kai spoke up.

“Wait, did you say Lotte World?” asked Kai, earning a nod from Yeonjun. “That’s where Beomie hyung and I had our third date!”

“Oh, that’s right, isn’t it?” Beomgyu smiled and kissed Kai on the cheek lovingly. “It’s a great place for couples to go on dates. Ryujin actually told me earlier this week that she and her girlfriend are planning on going there for their one-year anniver… Wait a minute.” He suddenly stopped and turned to Yeonjun. “Who asked who to go to Lotte World?”

“Um… If I remember correctly, I suggested him going there because he really wanted to see the sky from a better angle, and a Ferris wheel is perfect for that, right? Then, he asked if I could take him, and I said yes.”

The couple looked at each other again, and Yeonjun was seriously starting to believe that Beomgyu and Kai would communicate telepathically or something.

“Hyung,” Beomgyu started. “Do you like him?”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened. “What? What… No—I mean… Well, I gue—What? What are you saying? Why would I—Beomgyu, what are you getting at here?”

Kai began to giggle and Beomgyu facepalmed.

“Hyung, just by your reaction, I can tell you do like him,” Beomgyu said.

“No, I don’t!”

“You’re blushing,” pointed out Kai. “And you keep acting flustered and being defensive over a simple question.”

“Anyone would do that if they got asked a question like that so suddenly!”

“Look, hyung, you straight-up suggested for him to go on a Ferris wheel, and he asked if _you_ ’d take him. Don’t you know that Ferris wheels are like the most romantic thing ever?”

Kai nodded at Beomgyu’s comment. “If you don’t like him, then I’m pretty sure _he_ likes you. He could’ve gone by himself or with someone else, but he asked for you of all people to take him.”

Yeonjun thought about everything his friends were saying.

‘Does Soobin like me? No, that can’t be. He’s only known me for three days. There’s no way he would like me so fast. Beomgyu and Kai are just teasing me and are looking way too deep into it,’ he thought.

And as he was about to vocalize his thoughts about them being wrong, he realized that the thought of Soobin liking him didn’t make him uncomfortable.

Choi Yeonjun, who wanted to be with no one but his soulmate, who wanted nothing to do with relationships or love unless it was with his soulmate, feeling… possibly _hopeful_ at the thought of Soobin liking him. No, that can’t be right. Not hopeful. 'I'm just curious,' Yeonjun told himself.

“Guys,” he said. “What if he does like me?”

Silence.

Then, Beomgyu asked, “Would you want to try and be with him? Or would you be too scared to love someone, leave him, and unrealistically wait for your soulmate?”

A week ago, Yeonjun would have answered the second option without a doubt. ‘What’s the point of being with someone if they’re not the person the universe meant for you to be with?’ He would’ve said.

But today, Yeonjun didn’t know his answer.

Later that day at around 4, Yeonjun was standing right outside the outer Lotte World entrance as he tried to forget about the possibility of Soobin liking him.

When Soobin arrived, Yeonjun was lost in his own thoughts, so the younger boy had to shake his shoulder to get his attention.

“Oh, hi, Soobin!” He said as he internally hoped the blush on his cheeks wasn’t evident.

Soobin looked more handsome than usual in the black bomber jacket he was wearing right now, but Yeonjun wouldn't say it out loud, of course.

“Hi, hyung! Did you buy your ticket yet?” Soobin asked with a smile.

“No, I was waiting for you to get here first…”

“Oh, good! Let me buy both of our tickets!” Soobin was already on his way to the ticket stand when Yeonjun ran up to him.

“Soobin, you don’t have to. I can pay for my own,” he said, but Soobin shook his head.

“You paid for my drink at the café yesterday, and I’m the one who asked you to come here with me today, so it’s the least I can do.”

Yeonjun, unable to come up with a better reason to stop Soobin, just watched as Soobin bought two tickets for Lotte World.

Once he was done, he waved the two tickets in front of Yeonjun’s face and laughed. “Let’s go!”

Soobin ran inside like a little kid visiting an amusement park for the first time. He had a very childish and innocently cute personality. Yeonjun thought, at that moment, that Soobin and Kai would be great friends.

For the next couple hours, Soobin excitedly yelled out “Hyung, let’s go on this one!” and “Hyung, doesn’t this game look fun?” and such before dragging Yeonjun to another ride or game.

Now, half an hour before the amusement park closed, Yeonjun and Soobin were walking side by side and simply enjoying each other’s company when Yeonjun glanced at his phone to check the time.

“Oh… Lotte World closes at 10, and it’s currently 9:28…” Yeonjun said.

Soobin immediately gasped. “We forgot about the Ferris wheel! Let’s go!” He grabbed Yeonjun’s hand and dragged him in the direction of the Ferris wheel. (It was his first time there, but the Ferris wheel was hard to miss, so he didn’t need directions to find it.)

The pair ran to the short line in front of the Ferris wheel, taking a moment to catch their breath, Soobin’s hand finally letting go of Yeonjun’s (much to Yeonjun’s relief as he could feel his heart beating dangerously faster with every second), when a worker walked up to them.

“Are you two here for the Ferris wheel?” He asked.

They both nodded.

“Are we too late?” Soobin asked as he saw the people in front of them be seated.

“Nope, you came just in time. You’ll be the last passengers because we have to close soon,” the worker said.

Soobin smiled and grabbed Yeonjun’s hand again and walked into the empty cart.

Yeonjun sat down next to Soobin and tried to focus on the view outside instead of the feeling of Soobin’s fingers intertwined with his own.

When they reached the top, Soobin let go of Yeonjun’s hand again to point at the glass.

“Isn’t that the park we were at yesterday?” He asked, excitedly.

Yeonjun leaned closer to Soobin to see where he was pointing at. “Mhm, and the bookstore’s over there,” he said pointing somewhere else.

Soobin seemed to be so engrossed in the view of the city. “It’s all so pretty… The sky’s pretty, too.” Then, he turned to Yeonjun. “Thank you for bringing me here, Yeonjun hyung.”

And Yeonjun once again felt time stop as he stared into Soobin’s eyes. His eyes were so beautiful and looked like they held so many untold stories behind them. Stories about him that Yeonjun wanted to hear until there was nothing left to know about Soobin.

“Soobin?” He asked, still unable to look away.

“Hm?”

“I'm still wondering… Why do you hide your soulmate tattoo?”

Soobin tore his eyes away from Yeonjun and looked outside again.

“I think our tattoos are meant to be something we keep to ourselves until we lose our soulmate and suddenly those words become a symbol of what used to be, almost like proof that they really existed and that we met them at some point in our lives.

“And, I guess fate always works out the way it’s meant to, so if someone knows someone else’s tattoo, then it was meant to happen, and things will work out from there, but… I’d rather just keep mine to myself. One day, maybe I’ll share it, but for now, it’s just for me.

“Not many people think this way. My cousin’s tattoo is on her wrist, and she sometimes just lets it show. She says she doesn’t care if other people see it. I think it’s quite brave of her to not fear showing it, but I’d rather keep mine a secret from the world, you know?”

Yeonjun nodded.

Soobin sighed and sat back as if finally tired of staring out the glass. As he did, he slid closer to Yeonjun, and whether it was intentional or unintentional, Yeonjun didn’t know, but he tried to act as if he didn’t notice.

But then, Soobin grabbed Yeonjun’s hand, and Yeonjun’s attempt at keeping calm went out the window.

His breath hitched and he closed his eyes to focus solely on Soobin’s fingers touching his hand gently.

“Yeonjun hyung.”

Yeonjun gulped, his eyes still closed. “Yes?”

“I’m glad I met you.”

Yeonjun opened his eyes at this and turned to look at Soobin who was a lot closer than he expected. Soobin’s face was just centimeters away, and Yeonjun couldn’t help but look at his lips.

Yeonjun looked away from his pretty lips for a second—just one second—to look at the younger’s eyes, and when he saw Soobin looking at his lips, too, he wanted to lean forward and _kiss_ him, but at that exact moment, their cart abruptly stopped and the door was opened by the same worker from earlier, asking them to quickly get out so the ride can be cleaned before the next day’s wave of passengers.

Yeonjun felt uneasy when he stepped out of the cart with Soobin, not because he was caught in the middle of such a personal moment with Soobin, but because it finally hit him that he was _about to kiss Soobin_.

It was almost like everything Yeonjun had ever complained about soulmates to Beomgyu didn't matter to him anymore, just like earlier when he thought of the possibility of Soobin liking him.

Yeonjun always said he would never love or date someone if he wasn’t completely sure they were his soulmate (even though he knew it was practically impossible), but there he was on the Lotte World Ferris wheel, about to kiss someone he met two days prior.

But it wasn’t just _someone_. It was Soobin. Soobin with his pretty eyes and pretty lips and pretty dimples—

‘Oh, my God,’ thought Yeonjun. ‘I like Soobin.’

And that simple thought didn’t leave his brain for the rest of the night, not when he told Soobin he had work early the next day (to which Soobin said, “I’ll meet you at the bookstore, then!”), not when Soobin waved at him from the passenger seat of his cousin’s car when she came to pick him up for the night, not when he opened his front door to Beomgyu and Kai begging for him to tell them how his Lotte World ‘date’ with Soobin went, and especially not when Soobin sent him a text message just as he had gone to bed, saying “Thank you for today hyung! I had a lot of fun! See you tomorrow!”

Yeonjun liked Soobin.

And he had a feeling his crush on Soobin wouldn’t be going away any time soon.

Because just thinking of all the times that day alone where he had felt his heart race, his face heat up, and his mind unconsciously think of Soobin, made Yeonjun think that he couldn’t stop liking Soobin even if he tried.

And then, his conversation with Beomgyu and Kai came to mind, the conversation that not only made him wonder if Soobin liked him, but that also confused him because his fear of not being with his soulmate had disappeared when he thought of Soobin when that had never happened before.

What was Soobin doing to him?


	4. Day Four

Yeonjun woke up dreading the fact that he had work that morning, but when he remembered that Soobin said he’d meet up with him at the bookstore, he shot right up out of bed and immediately started getting ready.

As he carefully clipped his nametag to his button-up shirt, he glanced at himself in the mirror. He began to fix his hair when his eyes drifted to his own lips, and suddenly the memory of Soobin’s lips came to mind.

He was so close to Soobin last night. He almost kissed him, and Soobin maybe would have kissed back. Maybe. Because if he remembered correctly, Soobin was staring at his lips, too—

‘Argh, stop thinking about it already!’ Yeonjun yelled mentally. ‘Just act normal when you see him. Don’t even bring it up to him.’

He made his way to the bookstore, and just like two days ago, Soobin was waiting right outside for him, except instead of Yeonjun having to get his attention when he arrived, Soobin immediately spotted him and waved at him until they were standing right in front of each other.

“Good morning, Soobin,” said Yeonjun with a small smile.

“Good morning, Yeonjun hyung!” Soobin replied happily. Seemed like the events of the Ferris wheel weren’t bothering him.

Soobin looked down at Yeonjun’s shirt for a moment with his head tilted. “Did you wear a nametag when I first met you, too?” He asked, and Yeonjun nodded. “Ah, I didn’t notice back then…”

Soobin looked back up at Yeonjun’s eyes, and Yeonjun tried to control himself from blushing or doing anything else that would give away his feelings. (That feels weird to say. Choi Yeonjun having feelings to hide...)

‘Go on, say something!’

“Maybe it was because you were too busy looking at my handsome face,” Yeonjun said.

Soobin raised an eyebrow.

‘Not that! God, Yeonjun, why would you say something like that?!’ Yeonjun beat himself up in his head as he felt his face go red.

But then, Soobin laughed (which showed his cute dimples) and said, “Maybe I was. Should we go in now? I don’t want to make you late for work.”

Yeonjun, shocked that Soobin seemed to have played along with his joke, only nodded and walked inside the bookstore.

Thankfully not many people were there to see his flustered state as soon as he walked in, so he let out a sigh of relief and turned to Soobin for a split second.

“Wait right here. I’ll be right back,” Yeonjun told Soobin, and the younger hummed.

Yeonjun went to the employee room in the back and clocked in. He then checked his schedule which thankfully wasn’t much for today. He grabbed one of the boxes of books and headed back out.

When he did, he found Soobin picking two books off a shelf and looking at both of them as if contemplating something.

It took the blue-haired boy a second to notice that Yeonjun was back. It wasn’t until Yeonjun set down the heavy box that Soobin snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at Yeonjun.

“Oh, hyung, you’re back,” he said, turning back to the two books. “I can’t figure out which of these to buy. Have you read them? Which one do you recommend?”

He handed them to Yeonjun, who only stared at the covers blankly.

Yeonjun then gave them back and scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t read books…”

“Oh, you don’t?” Soobin asked, surprised, and Yeonjun nodded. “Why do you work at a bookstore, then?”

“It’s a bit of a long story, but my parents forced me to work here,” Yeonjun said, earning a confused look from Soobin.

“Do you still live with your parents?”

Yeonjun shook his head.

“Then why…?”

“As I said, it’s kind of a long story…” Yeonjun said.

And if he were talking to anyone else, he would’ve stopped there and changed the topic of conversation, but because it was Soobin, Soobin who he felt he could trust with anything, Soobin who was looking at him with his pretty eyes, Yeonjun continued.

“It’s been my dream since I was young to be a dancer, and while my parents paid for my dance classes and attended all my performances, they always told me that dancing wouldn’t put food on the table. When I entered college with a scholarship to major in dance, they got _really_ mad at me, so I moved out.

“Dance was— _is_ —my passion, but they don’t understand. They’re still mad even though it’s been three years… My grades are good, and everything is going great, but they still tell me I can’t make a living with a dance degree.

“I guess they wanted to feel like they had a normal son for once, so they made me get this job. My dad’s co-worker’s son used to work at this bookstore actually, and he majored in communications and has a well-paying job now, so I assume that’s why my parents wanted me here…

"I didn’t want them mad at me anymore. I wasn’t gonna give up dance, and taking this job was the next best thing to lessen their anger and disappointment in me, so here I am.”

Soobin frowned. “They’re not disappointed in you.”

“Sure feels like it,” replied Yeonjun with a sigh.

“Maybe they had a set future for you, and because you’re taking a completely different route than they had imagined, they’re just worried that you might go through unimaginable difficulties to get to your end goal,” Soobin explained.

“I guess…” Yeonjun looked up at Soobin, who was staring back at him again. Quickly looking away, Yeonjun found a sudden interest in the color of the shelf in front of them.

“Parents are always like that, so don’t worry, hyung.”

“But… I don’t know. I want to make them happy, but I don’t want to give up dancing either.”

Soobin thought for a moment before smiling. “How about you meet in the middle?”

Yeonjun looked back at Soobin in confusion.

“In the little time I’ve been in this part of the city, I haven’t seen any dance academies. You could open one!” Soobin said happily. “You could teach people how to dance while also being the owner of your own business! I think that might satisfy both you and your parents’ wishes. You become an entrepreneur and have your name be known in this city, and at the same time, you dance and help other people learn to love dance, too.”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened as he thought about Soobin’s idea. Opening his very own dance academy! How had he never thought of that?! It was almost the most perfect idea.

“I could teach children!” Yeonjun gasped. “I love kids! I could teach them to dance and maybe dancing will become their dream just like it became mine at their age!”

Soobin smiled widely at Yeonjun’s excitement. “See! Maybe you could minor in business if you still have time to, and you can open a dance academy for kids right here in Seoul!”

Yeonjun nodded rapidly and before he could even process it, he threw his arms about Soobin and hugged him tightly. “Thank you for helping me, Soobin. Your idea might literally save my relationship with my parents. I seriously can’t believe I had never thought of that!”

It wasn’t until Soobin hugged back that Yeonjun realized the situation he was in. Soobin was slightly taller, so Yeonjun’s cheek was resting against the younger’s shoulder, and if he moved his head just _slightly_ to the left, his lips would be right against Soobin’s neck…

Yeonjun pulled away from the hug and laughed nervously. “Sorry for hugging you so suddenly…”

“Oh, it’s okay,” said Soobin. “I didn’t mind at all. Besides, it’s nice to see you so happy.”

Yeonjun turned red at that and really hoped Soobin couldn’t notice.

And if Soobin did, he didn’t mention it because the pair then began to talk about several other things as they walked around the store so Yeonjun could continue to stock books, including the college Soobin attended in the States, Yeonjun’s best friends who very much resembled an angel and a devil (“They seem like two little angels at first, but I swear, Beomgyu is a literal nightmare.”), and their favorite foods.

Several hours had passed when Soobin suddenly stopped to check the time on his phone. “Ah, hyung, I have to go meet with my cousin and her friend in half an hour, so I’m gonna have to go home now.”

“That’s alright. You are here for your cousin after all,” said Yeonjun, trying to not sound upset that Soobin had to leave.

“Have a great rest of your day, hyung!” Soobin waved before he left the bookstore.

Yeonjun sighed and kneeled down to put some books on the bottom shelf when someone next to him said, “It’s quite unprofessional to bring your boyfriend to work.”

Yeonjun jumped up in surprise then looked up to see a blond boy around his age with a stack of about six of seven books in his arms.

Yeonjun stood up and dusted himself off as he stared at the boy in confusion. “What did you say?”

“I said that it’s unprofessional for you to bring your boyfriend to work. It causes a distraction for not only yourself but the customers around you who are simply trying to find books to purchase.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Yeonjun said quickly. “We’re just friends.”

The boy looked over at him with an expression that read, ‘seriously? _Just_ friends?’

“He’s really not my boyfriend. Anyway, I’m sorry if I bothered you.” Yeonjun picked up the box of books and was about to head to another part of the store when the boy spoke up again.

“I never said _I_ was bothered by it. In fact, I find it kind of amusing. It’s quite obvious you’re in love with each other,” said the blond boy as he turned around to look at the shelf behind them. “I’m surprised to hear that you two aren’t dating.”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened at that. “We’re not—We’re not in love with each other.”

“Your inability to admit it doesn’t make it not true, you know,” said the boy. “Can I have one of those?” He then asked, pointing at the books in Yeonjun’s box.

Yeonjun took a box out of the box and put it on the top of the other’s stack of books.

“Thanks. Anyway, I was just putting my two cents in. Have a good day."

He began to walk away and before he got to turn the corner, Yeonjun exclaimed (a bit too loudly for a calm bookstore, he’d admit), “Wait!”

The boy turned around. “Yes?”

“Why did you… think we were in love?”

Yeonjun watched as the boy thought for a moment.

“Just a feeling, I guess,” he finally answered. “You look so happy to be with each other, even when you’re at work. It seems like you spend a lot of time together, too. I’m not very good at all this romantic junk, but the way he looked at you… As I said, I don’t know, so I could be wrong, but it did seem like there was something more between you, even if you two don’t realize it yourselves.”  
  
Yeonjun was trying to process everything he was just told when Beomgyu came running up behind him, panting as if he had just run a marathon to get there.

“Yeonjun hyung! You’ll never guess what I just heard—You!” Beomgyu gasped loudly and pointed at the boy Yeonjun was just talking to. “What are you doing here?!”

“Am I not allowed to buy books like anyone else…?”

“What are you doing talking to my best friend? Don’t steal him from me like you do with everything else, Taehyun!”

At that, Beomgyu grabbed a confused Yeonjun and harshly pulled him outside the store.

“Beomgyu, what the hell is wrong with you?” Yeonjun asked. “I’m gonna get in trouble with my boss because you dragged me out here while I’m on a shift! And, why’d you yell at that poor guy like that?”

Beomgyu kicked the dirt on the ground with his arms crossed over his chest. “Hyung, why were you talking to Taehyun?”

“Taehyun…? Oh, the guy who works with you at the supermarket?”

“He doesn’t work _with_ me! He works _against_ me! Neither you nor Kai understands! I’ve explained this before so many times! He always does better than me and gets all the praise from our supervisor, and he makes me look bad because I don’t sell as much as him. I just know he’s doing it on purpose. He’s like… like my arch-nemesis! Are best friends supposed to be all buddy-buddy with their best friend’s arch-nemesis behind said best friend’s back? No!”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “You’re overreacting.”

“Agh, that’s just what Kai always says!” Beomgyu said angrily.

“Besides, I wasn’t being ‘buddy-buddy’ with him. We were just having a friendly conversation like normal people—”

“I was gonna tell you something totally important,” Beomgyu interrupted, “but now that you’re being mean to me, I won’t tell you.”

“Okay. See you, then,” Yeonjun said, trying to hold back laughter from watching Beomgyu get mad over something so dumb and insignificant, and turned to walk back into the store when Beomgyu grabbed his arm.

The younger pulled him back. “No! Don’t you wanna know what I had to tell you? I said it was really important!”

“I’ll listen to you if you go apologize to Taehyun.”

“What?!”

“Go apologize. You probably hurt his feelings,” Yeonjun said, and Beomgyu sighed dramatically before mumbling “fine.”

The two went back inside and found Taehyun walking away from the cash register and towards the door. When he looked at Beomgyu, he put on a smile and said, “Hello, Beomgyu hyung. Nice to see you again.”

Beomgyu looked at Yeonjun, and Yeonjun motioned towards Taehyun.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you… It was very immature of me,” Beomgyu said.

Taehyun continued to smile as he responded, “Yeah, it was immature, but I’ll accept your apology. See you at work on Sunday.”

After Taehyun left, Beomgyu kicked the floor again. “I can’t _believe_ him! The way he said that! It’s like he’s trying to get on my nerves on purpose!” He huffed.

“Stop losing your sanity over your little ‘arch-nemesis,’ okay?” laughed Yeonjun to which Beomgyu rolled his eyes. “Now, tell me what you wanted to say so badly so I can get back to work and not get fired.”

“Oh, yeah!” Beomgyu seemed to have suddenly forgotten the reason for his anger. “So, I was at the jewelry shop down the road because someone told me they sell some cute necklaces, and I was like ‘why not buy one for Kai?’ because I’m such a good boyfriend like that. Anyways, I was there and I heard a girl talk to someone and say Soobin’s name, so I was like ‘are they talking about Yeonjun hyung’s Soobin?’”—Yeonjun blushed at this—“so I eavesdropped a little, and the girl said something like ‘my cousin Soobin won’t stop talking about some guy named Yeonjun who he just met. He’s never acted like this before, so I think he might like that guy,’ and when I heard that, I was like ‘Oh my God, I have to tell Hyung about this!’ so I ran all the way here—by the way, I almost got run over by a car, and not gonna lie, I kinda wish it had hit me so I could sue, and they’d have to pay me thousands of dollars, and then I could finally quit my stupid job at the stupid supermarket… but yeah! Soobin’s cousin herself said he might like you. You’re welcome for being so nosy and eavesdropping on her and her friend.”

By the time Beomgyu finished talking, Yeonjun was staring at him in disbelief.

Beomgyu stared back, looking for a response. “Hyung? Hmm, did I talk too quickly? Let me start over. So I was at the jewelry shop down the road—”

“No! I did hear. I just…” Yeonjun trailed off and put his head in his hands.

Beomgyu simply patted his best friend on the shoulder as Yeonjun stood there in silence, trying to hold himself together.

Soobin might actually, as in _actually_ -actually, like him back, and he couldn’t believe it. It seemed too good to be true.

“You should confess, hyung.”

Yeonjun looked up and wanted to be mad at Beomgyu’s suggestion, but he reminded himself of all the new emotions that Soobin made him experience for the first time in the past few days and the many innocent desires he wanted to fulfill with Soobin in the (hopefully near) future, so he looked Beomgyu in the eyes and said, surprising them both, “Maybe I should.”


	5. Day Five

‘The worst part of having a best friend who has a key to your place,’ thought Yeonjun as he awoke to the sound of a frying pan loudly falling to the floor in the kitchen, ‘is that he comes in whenever he wants and makes a mess that _I_ have to clean up.’

Before he even got the chance to get out of bed, Beomgyu and Kai suddenly kicked open the door while holding plates of (slightly burnt) waffles.

“Wake up!” yelled out Beomgyu as he jumped onto the bed, and when he came face to face with an angry Yeonjun, he jumped off and stood next to Kai. “Oh, you’re already awake? Well, that ruins all the fun…”

“Good morning, Yeonjun hyung!” said Kai happily, ignoring Beomgyu’s pouting. “We wanted to give you our support and energy today, so… we made you waffles! A fun way to start off your day, right?”

Beomgyu nodded. “We almost started a fire in your kitchen, too!”

“A fire?!” Yeonjun exclaimed and began to get out of bed until Beomgyu pushed him back with a syrup dispenser.

“I said ‘ _almost_ ,’ hyung. God, old people really do have bad hearing problems…”

“Are you here to bully me or give me my waffles?”

Kai then gave Yeonjun one of the plates in his hands and sat down next to him on the bed. Beomgyu sat down on the other side of Yeonjun and began to eat his own waffles.

Yeonjun decided not to question why they were all eating on his bed, and instead asked, “Why exactly do I need your support and energy today…?”

“Because you’re gonna confess today,” said Beomgyu in between chews.

Yeonjun, who was pouring some syrup on his waffles, abruptly stopped and looked up at Beomgyu with wide eyes. “I’m gonna _what_?!”

“You’re going to confess to Soobin today!” Kai said, taking the syrup out of Yeonjun’s hand and pouring it over his own plate before giving it back. “It’s best to do it as soon as possible, you know. Besides, today’s a nice day! It’s no one’s birthday, and it’s not a holiday either, so it won’t be overshadowed by anything else! One day in the future, when you guys get married, you’ll look back at this date and think of what a nice confession-versary date it is!”

“Uh-huh,” added Beomgyu with a nod. “And at the wedding after-party, Kai and I will be like ‘yeah, we told him to confess, so really, it’s all thanks to us that we’re all here,’ and we’re gonna feel so cool when all the guests think highly of us.”

“Why—Why would I…? Do I have to confess today…? Why are you guys forcing me—Kai Kamal Huening, I really expected better from you than to feed into Beomgyu’s crazy antics.”

Kai frowned. “You know I don’t like it when you call me by my full name! And I’m not feeding into his antics… I think it is a good idea for you to confess. He definitely likes you, so what’s stopping you?”

“It’s time for you to get your first boyfriend anyways, so you can stop third-wheeling us once and for all,” Beomgyu added then pointed at Yeonjun’s breakfast. “Are you gonna finish that?”

Yeonjun glanced down at his waffles and dropped the plate on his blanket-covered lap before covering his face with his hands.

“I’m not ready to confess.”

“Aw, hyung, don’t say that,” said Kai. “Just go for it! We can even help you plan it all out!”

“We are the best date planners ever, you know.”

Yeonjun looked up at his friends who were both looking at him expectantly.

“Fine,” Yeonjun finally said, stuffing his mouth with a piece of a burnt waffle.

At that, Beomgyu reached into his sweatpants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. As he unfolded it, he dramatically cleared his throat.

“How to get Yeonjun hyung his first-ever boyfriend by Choi Beomgyu and Huening Kai,” he read. “We made a list of steps for you to take, so trust us when we say this is gonna be the best confession ever. First, take him somewhere where you can give him a 'first' experience. I took Kai to a roller skate rink once, and since it was his first time rollerskating, I had to hold his hand the whole time because he was scared of falling—"

“Hyung! You said you wouldn’t bring it up again!” pouted Kai.

“—Sorry, baby… Anyway, step two is to treat him to something. Kai loves tteokbokki, so I took him there once and we got to learn all about each other’s food likes and dislikes—”

“And I also learned Beomie hyung is a messy eater.”

“—But you love me anyway! The third step is to take him somewhere where you can be alone and have a nice conversation, and that’s when you can confess! We won’t tell you what to do for that because it has to be something you come up with on your own—”

“Because we can’t even do it like in the movies where we would ask Soobin’s best friends how the perfect way to confess to him is, then feed you the ideas.” Kai crossed his arms.

“Yeah, so the next best thing is for you to just do what you think is best!”

And as Yeonjun finally got out of bed to get ready, he could only hope that the couple was right about all this because if he confessed and Soobin rejected him, he wouldn’t know what to do.

Yeonjun messaged Soobin to ask if he was free to hang out today, and when Soobin responded with a “Yes! Meet you in front of the bookstore in 30?,” Beomgyu and Kai jumped up and down in excitement and helped Yeonjun get ready (“Style your hair a little differently, hyung… Trust me, it makes a difference, right Kai?”).

Half an hour later, Yeonjun and Soobin’s hang out—or ‘date’ in Yeonjun’s mind—began at the local bowling alley. Soobin had never gone bowling before, so Yeonjun had to teach him before they could get started. However, they ended up mostly playing around instead of trying to win the game. And Yeonjun loved watching Soobin laugh at every one of his own funny antics.

Next, they went to get ice cream, where Yeonjun found out that Soobin hated mint chocolate, but instead of being upset, he only smiled as Soobin’s eyes twinkled in delight when he licked his own strawberry ice cream.

Then, the pair were at the park that they had visited together before. Soobin had joked about going to see the ducks again, and Yeonjun bravely agreed to Soobin’s surprise.

So there they were, sitting on the bench in front of the duck pond at the park.

Soobin was talking about his classes, but Yeonjun was having difficulty paying attention because this was the final part of the plan. He had to confess soon, and he was nervous. It wasn’t until Soobin said something about a hospital that Yeonjun finally snapped out of his thoughts and began to properly listen to Soobin.

“I almost dropped out of college because of my dad. He’s been at the hospital for a while now, and I try to visit him as much as possible, but he doesn’t like that I sometimes skip my classes to see him. I wanted to drop out until my mom made me realize that my dad would be a lot more upset if I dropped out than if I skipped one or two classes. Instead, I decided I needed to take a break from my life back in the States just for two or three weeks. My cousin suggested for me to come to visit her in Seoul, and I thought, ‘why not? I need a break, and I haven’t seen her since we were like fifteen. I’ll kill two birds with one stone.’”

Soobin then looked at Yeonjun, and Yeonjun, noticing the short distance between them, felt like they were up on the Ferris wheel again. Just thinking of the Ferris wheel made Yeonjun's cheeks go warm. Once again, he was in a position where he could just _lean over_ and _kiss_ Soobin.

“I’m glad I decided to come here. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have met you,” said Soobin with a smile.

'Now's your chance!' Yeonjun told himself.

“Soobin…” He started, nervously. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

And then, Soobin’s phone beeped with notifications.

“Hold that thought,” said Soobin as he took out his phone and read the messages. “Hyung, something just came up. I have to go, but let’s meet up back at the bookstore in… let’s say… two hours? Sorry for cutting this so short…”

“It’s okay, Soobin. Don’t worry. See you later,” Yeonjun smiled and waved at Soobin, who was already jogging away.

Then, suddenly, Yeonjun felt like he needed to say what he felt _now,_ or else he’d go crazy trying to hold it in any longer just to follow Beomgyu and Kai’s plan, so he yelled out, “Soobin!”

Soobin turned around. “Yes, hyung?”

‘I like you, Soobin!’ Yeonjun wanted to yell. ‘I wish you’d know how much I like you and I wish you’d feel the same way about me!’

But seeing Soobin stare at him from several feet away with his pretty eyes and pretty smile and pretty face, waiting for him to speak, made him shake his head and motion for Soobin to go instead.

“Don’t get lost on your way there, Soobin!”

Soobin leaned forward and continued to stare, as if he hadn’t heard Yeonjun clearly, but seeing as the older continued to motion for him to leave, Soobin only nodded and ran back to his cousin’s house.

Yeonjun went back to his apartment only to see Beomgyu and Kai sprawled out on the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn on the older’s stomach as they watched TV. Upon seeing Yeonjun walk in, Beomgyu sat up and paused what they were watching.

“Here already?” Kai asked, surprised.

“Soobin had to go for a bit. Sounded like an emergency or something, but we’ll meet back up in like two hours,” Yeonjun responded.

“Ohhh…” Beomgyu grabbed a handful of popcorn and with a full mouth, asked, “So did you confess yet?”

Yeonjun sighed. “No. I was going to right before he left, but I chickened out at the last second. Guys… maybe I just shouldn’t do it. Not today, at least.”

“Hyung, if you wait any longer, you’re going to drive yourself crazy,” said Beomgyu. “Just do all of us a favor and confess to Soobin.”

“All of us…?” Yeonjun asked, confused.

“If you don’t do it now, guess who’s gonna have to hear your whining and crying? _Me and Kai_. But especially me. We have much better things to do than hear you mope about how you’re too scared to tell Soobin you like him, so just tell him when you see him in a couple of hours, alright?”

“Just follow the plan like we told you to,” said Kai. “It has to work. We can tell he does like you. There’s no way he won’t accept your confession, hyung.”

Two hours later, Yeonjun paced in front of the bookstore for a couple of minutes, holding a bouquet of blue flowers in his hands—he had too much time on his hands as he waited for Soobin, so he had gone to a local flower shop—and thinking about the infinite amount of possibilities that could occur after confessing to Soobin.

‘What if we’ve got this all wrong and he doesn’t actually like me…? If I confess, he’ll definitely be too grossed out to even go near me anymore. I’ll completely ruin our friendship if it turns out he just sees me as a friend. Should I really do this…? Ah, I’m already holding these flowers… I can’t really hide now, can I? I should just man up and get ready to tell Soobin how much I like him…’

“Yeonjun?”

Yeonjun turned around to see his boss, the bookstore owner, approaching him with several books in her arms.

He slightly bowed and said a quick “Hello” to her.

“Yeonjun, are you waiting for that blue-haired boy? Soobin, was it?”

“Yes, I am,” answered Yeonjun. “How did you know?”

“I see you two have been getting along quite well,” she said, causing Yeonjun to blush and to hide the flowers behind his back. “But I’m very sorry to tell you that he had to leave for the United States.”

Yeonjun’s blush immediately disappeared and he dropped the bouquet to the ground as he felt like he had just gotten punched in the stomach. “E-excuse me?”

“Soobin came by an hour ago and informed me that he had to see his father immediately due to some health complications. He asked me to tell you that he is extremely sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but he did also ask me to give you this book whenever I got the chance to, so here you go, Yeonjun.”

The woman handed a book to Yeonjun, and all he could do was take it and quietly say goodbye to his boss as she left.

He stood there, staring at the book in his hands. He recognized it to be a copy of the book that Soobin had come in with five days ago when he was in search of its sequel.

He just couldn’t believe it. Soobin was _gone_.

‘I’ll have to wait for winter break to see him again, and even then, Soobin might not even want to come back to Seoul—wait! His phone!’ Yeonjun exclaimed in his head.

He frantically took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Soobin’s number.

“Come on, Soobin… Pick up… Pick up…”

But instead of hearing Soobin’s soothing voice, he heard the line say, “The number you have called has been disconnected or is no longer in service.”

Yeonjun cursed mentally. “My only option now is to go see if maybe he’s still at his cousin’s. Please, Soobin. Please be there. Don’t leave me.”

And so Yeonjun ran and ran and ran until he reached Soobin’s cousin’s apartment and immediately knocked on the door, not even giving himself some time to catch his breath.

The door opened and revealed a girl who did sort of resemble Soobin in a way.

“Oh, you’re Soobin’s friend, right? I saw you drop him off the other day. I’m Arin, by the way,” she said kindly, but Yeonjun wasn’t in the mood to be polite and make friends.

“Is Soobin here?” He let out.

Arin frowned and shook her head. “Unfortunately, he had to leave early due to his dad needing him at the hospital.”

“And why can’t my calls go through? We were supposed to meet and I was about to—”

“Ah, see, my cousin rented pocket Wi-Fi during his stay here in Seoul, and if my calculations are correct, he must have boarded his plane already, so he won’t have Wi-Fi again until he reaches the States,” Arin explained.

“So he’s gone? Soobin’s gone?”

“Well, I have no doubts that he’ll message you right away. I can tell you two really care about each other, so don’t worry. Soobin will call you as soon as his plane lands. And who knows, maybe you’ll be able to convince him to visit Seoul again. He really loved it here, and he definitely loved hanging out with you during the short time he was here. Well, don’t stress about it too much. Have a good night, Yeonjun.”

Arin closed the door with a smile, leaving Yeonjun to stand there on his own, staring at the book in his hands once more and hoping with all his heart that Soobin would message him soon.

Soobin would message him as soon as he had phone service again, which wouldn’t be too long. Yeonjun tried to calm his nerves by telling himself that within the next 24 hours, he’d receive a phone call or text message from Soobin.

Soobin, the one and only person Yeonjun had ever liked and who Yeonjun wanted to be with, would message him soon… right?


	6. Week Four

Four weeks passed by.

Four. Weeks.

And not a word from Soobin.

Yeonjun quit his job at the bookstore because he didn’t want to ever go back there without Soobin. His parents were mad, but it didn’t matter to him. All he wanted was Soobin.

And his friends knew that he wanted his Soobin _badly_.

So Beomgyu and Kai insisted on multiple occasions that Yeonjun go to Arin and ask if she knew why Soobin wouldn’t message him, but the sad (and, once again, lonely) pink-haired boy was convinced that Soobin _didn’t want_ to talk to him. That Soobin had no reason to stay in contact with him anymore. That Soobin wanted him out of his life.

And he was too scared that his thoughts would become reality if he went to see Arin.

How embarrassing would it be to go to Soobin’s cousin’s place begging to be able to talk to him, only for his cousin to tell him to get lost because Soobin didn’t want to ever hear from him again?

Yeonjun wouldn’t be able to bear it. He continued to tell himself that it was better this way. To respect Soobin’s wishes and not try to contact him.

“Hyung, you’re being too hard on yourself,” Kai said when Yeonjun marked the day as ‘4 weeks since I last saw him’ on the calendar on his wall.

“Please don’t be like this, Yeonjun hyung…” Beomgyu added.

Yeonjun ignored the couple and only laid down on his bed in silence.

With a sigh, Beomgyu held Kai’s hand and whispered, “Kai, let me talk to him alone, okay, baby?”

Kai understood that Yeonjun needed to be alone with his best friend at that moment, so he nodded and left the room.

Yeonjun remained still and quiet, though, and to Beomgyu, he appeared to be lost in thought.

“Hyung, talk to me,” Beomgyu said.

Yeonjun shook his head.

“Hyung, I know it’s hard, but you have to try and get over him. If he left you, you need to accept it and realize that he wasn’t the right person for you, but don’t let that define your self-worth either, alright? I know you’re being hard on yourself in that pretty little head of yours, so stop it.”

Yeonjun sat up and let out a long and loud sigh.

“Please try to move on… Kai and I will be here for you if you need us to,” Beomgyu said as he patted Yeonjun on the shoulder.

Yeonjun shook his head and spoke for the first time that day. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it? I’m your best friend. You know you can tell me.”

“I just—I thought…” Yeonjun began crying into his hands.

Beomgyu rushed over to hug Yeonjun comfortingly for several minutes until Yeonjun finally looked up again.

“I thought he was my soulmate. I was so sure of it. I felt like we were meant to be together. I’ve never felt like this with anyone else, so I knew it had to be Soobin, but I know it wasn’t him because… because the last words he said to me were ‘yes, hyung’ and not what’s on my soulmate tattoo. And before you say he might come back, I know he won’t. What kind of person leaves for weeks without contact like this…? He isn’t coming back, and I know it. Trust me, I know. I’m just… I’m upset he didn’t turn out to be my soulmate like I wanted him to. He was everything in a person I could’ve ever wanted. Beomgyu, I think I… I think I loved him.”

“‘Loved’ as in past tense, or do you still love him?”

Yeonjun didn’t respond. He only began to cry again, and Beomgyu held him for as long as his heartbroken best friend needed him to.

Much later, Yeonjun’s tears had dried up, and he looked over at Beomgyu, who smiled at him warmly.

“Can I take a nap now? I just wanna rest,” Yeonjun said weakly.

Beomgyu nodded and helped him under the covers, even placing a little kiss on Yeonjun’s forehead which made them both giggle. Beomgyu was glad to see Yeonjun crack a smile for the first time in weeks, even if it was for just a second.

“Kai and I will be in the living room if you need us,” Beomgyu said before leaving and quietly shutting the door behind him.

And Yeonjun fell asleep.

He woke up about three hours later to the sound of his friends screaming on the other side of the wall. Seemed like the couple was watching a horror movie.

Yeonjun sat up and scratched his head. He looked around his room and paused when he looked at the book his ex-boss gave him on behalf of Soobin.

Soobin’s last gift to him.

Yeonjun had never even opened it, partially because it made him too sad to even look at it, and partially because he wasn’t big on reading.

And maybe it was his tired state of mind or maybe it was Beomgyu’s earlier talk about moving on, but he walked over to it and began to read it.

It was a story about two boys in a world with no soulmates. (‘Lucky,’ thought Yeonjun. ‘A world like that sounds so simple.’) They were idol trainees under the same company and who were working towards the same dream. Along the way of their training, they fell in love and began dating. The two of them went through many difficulties in their trainee years, but along with three other trainees who they came to love as family, finally debuted. Unfortunately, they had to debut under a lot of pressure due to their senior group being so well-known. The two boys had to decide whether or not to keep their romantic relationship going, especially since they were constantly in the public eye. They chose to stop dating and solely focus on their work as idols and group members because they believed that that was what was best, but the two of them secretly dealt with the pain of the break-up for months. The book had a bit of an open-ended ending, not exactly saying whether or not they would get back together.

‘Maybe I’ll have to read the sequel like Soobin did to find out what happens next,’ thought Yeonjun when he got to the end.

He flipped to the last page and felt his breath hitch.

In Soobin’s handwriting, a message on the final page of the book read, “Yeonjun hyung, I’m so sorry I have to say goodbye to you by writing a message at the end of this book. (Kinda funny it had to be a book because I know you hate them… But did you read it? What’d you think of the couple’s choice to break up for the sake of their group? Read the sequel to find out what happens next! No spoilers from me, but what happens in the second book is such a shock~)

“Long story short about why I had to leave so suddenly, I got a call from my mom, saying that my dad's health got a lot more complicated. Honestly couldn’t explain it to you even if I wanted to. Too many medical terms. But I did understand that my dad wanted me with him there right away, so I had to take the first flight back to New York. (Did I tell you I was studying in New York?)

I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve said goodbye to you in person. You are such an amazing person, and you made me so so so happy during your time here, hyung. Thank you. A million times thank you. For everything. For being the reason I got to see so many beautiful parts of Seoul. For listening to me when I told you secrets I haven’t told anyone else. For being my first love.

Yeah, you read that correctly. Choi Soobin has never liked anyone before, yeah, yeah, laugh it out, hyung, I know it’s embarrassing that I've never liked anyone or been in a relationship before at this age. But I really like you, and I know it’s weird because we haven’t known each other for that long, but I feel so connected to you. Don’t know how to explain the feeling I get when I’m around you, but I love it.

Ahhh, I’m running out of room to write! I’ll end it here, and when I get the chance to, I’ll gather the courage to tell you I like you out loud, even if it’s by phone call! Which reminds me, my phone might not be connected for a while after I get to the States, so contact me via my mom’s phone for now! Here’s her number! Let’s talk soon, Yeonjun hyung!”

Yeonjun knew he was quietly crying the entire time he read Soobin’s letter, but when he read the last line—that ‘Let’s talk soon, Yeonjun hyung!’—he started sobbing loudly.

So loudly that Beomgyu and Kai must’ve heard from the living room because the two immediately walked into his room to hug and comfort him.

They kept asking him what was wrong, but he couldn’t stop crying.

He couldn’t even explain to his friends what had happened. All he did was say “Soobin” in a weak voice while pointing at the last line of the letter, and as the couple looked in confusion, Yeonjun pulled the sock off his left foot and began to sob harder as he read through blurry eyes, the words ‘Let’s talk soon, Yeonjun hyung!’ on his ankle.

It took half an hour before Yeonjun finally calmed down. He still sniffled once in a while against Kai’s shoulder, but at least he wasn’t sobbing anymore.

“Call his mom,” Beomgyu said all of a sudden. “Ask for her to put him on the line, and you’ll be able to talk to him again.”

“But why are those his words… Don’t you understand? He’s my soulmate, but he doesn’t want to talk to me ever again. If I call his mom, all I’ll do is make a fool of myself.”

Kai rubbed Yeonjun’s back. “Hyung, I know it’s hard, but at least try. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that those are the exact words, and he’s not really your soulmate—or maybe he _is_ , but this doesn’t count as his last words to you because he didn’t verbally say them? I’m not too sure how it works, but please give it a try. Maybe Soobin is waiting for you to call.”

Yeonjun shook his head but grabbed his phone and started dialing the number anyway, knowing that the couple wouldn’t stop until he called.

When the whole phone number was typed in, Yeonjun stared at it, and after several seconds, pressed the call button. He immediately put the call on speaker because no matter the information he would receive in the following minutes, he would likely be a crying mess and unable to explain what happened. It'd be better if Beomgyu and Kai directly heard everything themselves.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three—

“Hello?” let out an older woman’s voice.

Yeonjun looked up at his friends, who gave him comforting smiles. With a sigh, he asked, “Hello, is this Soobin’s mother?”

The trio could hear some shuffling on the other side of the line before a small “yes” was heard.

“M-my name is Choi Yeonjun,” Yeonjun started shakily. “I became friends with Soobin while he was here in Seoul four weeks ago. He left me a note right before he abruptly left, telling me to call you so he and I could get in contact again once he got back to New York. I was… I was wondering if he was there? Could I talk to him? Please? Or… does he not want to talk to me?”

There wasn’t an answer for several moments. Yeonjun could feel his heart beating louder than ever before, and his palms were sweating as he waited to hear something along the lines of ‘Soobin wishes to never speak to you again,’ but nothing, _absolutely nothing_ , could have prepared him for the next words Soobin’s mom said.

“Yeonjun, I’m sorry, but… Soobin never made it back to New York. His plane crashed on the way here, and he… he’s dead.”


	7. The End

“Hurry! He just got in the shower! We don’t have much time!”

A week after Yeonjun found out about Soobin’s death, Beomgyu ran into Yeonjun’s bedroom and grabbed his best friend’s phone, immediately typing in the password and searching for his recent call history.

“Beomie hyung, I don’t think it’s right for you to do this…” said a nervous Kai. “Yeonjun hyung isn’t going to like this…”

“I don’t care if he gets mad at me. He’ll forgive me eventually. We have to do this because _he_ never will. He has to know the truth before he loses his sanity over his overthinking,” Beomgyu said as he hit the ‘Call’ button and put the phone on speaker so both he and Kai could listen.

“Hello? Yeonjun? Do you need something, dear?”

“Hi, Soobin’s mom?” Beomgyu called out, earning a slap to the head from Kai who harshly whispered ‘Don’t bring him up!’

Beomgyu ignored Kai and continued. “Uh, hi, this is Yeonjun’s best friend, Beomgyu. I needed to ask you something if you’re comfortable giving me an answer. Please. It’s for Yeonjun’s sake.”

“Oh, of course,” said the woman on the other end. “What’s your question?”

“Can you tell us what Soobin’s soulmate tattoo said?”

As soon as the words left Beomgyu’s mouth, Yeonjun opened the door and looked at the couple in confusion. It was a weird sight, really. Beomgyu on the floor, leaning over what seemed to be Yeonjun’s own phone, and Kai standing there beside him, nervously biting his nails.

“I heard you two yelling and got out to see what all the commotion was about—is that my phone? Are you—are you calling someone? What are you doing? Choi Beomgyu, you’re going to give me my phone right now unless you want me to—”

And, then, Soobin’s mom spoke the words Yeonjun was dreading to hear: “Soobin’s soulmate tattoo said ‘Don’t get lost on your way there, Soobin!’”

Yeonjun felt his heart stop.

‘Don’t get lost on your way there, Soobin!’ was the last thing he ever got to say to Soobin…

So he was right. Soobin was _really_ his soulmate, but now it was too late. Soobin was gone. Forever.

Yeonjun fell to his knees as sobs wracked his body.

‘I messed up. It’s all my fault. Maybe if I had confessed, he wouldn’t have left. Maybe if I had kissed him on the Ferris wheel. No, maybe if I had just stalled long enough for him to get on a later flight—’

He felt Beomgyu wrap his arms around him as he looked up and saw Kai say something to his phone before ending the call.

Beomgyu was whispering to him, but Yeonjun could barely hear him.

Soobin was gone. His Soobin would never come back to him.

And it took him several months before he could finally convince himself that Soobin’s death wasn’t his fault.

He was so caught up in his negative and guilty thoughts that he had forgotten what Soobin had said to him on the Ferris wheel about fate always working itself out.

The universe intended for Soobin to die this soon and for Yeonjun to be left without a soulmate for the rest of his life.

Why?

Yeonjun didn’t know.

But he had slowly begun to accept it and everything about his and Soobin’s relationship.

In fact, Soobin’s words from the Ferris wheel seemed to have a whole new meaning to Yeonjun.

“I think our tattoos are meant to be something we keep to ourselves until we lose our soulmate and suddenly those words become a symbol of what used to be, almost like proof that they really existed and that we met them at some point in our lives,” he had said to Yeonjun.

Back then, it was like Soobin was just sharing his feelings on the topic of soulmates, but now, it felt like this was the universe’s way of giving Yeonjun a sense of comfort. His tattoo was a reminder that Soobin existed, that he smiled, that he laughed, that he held him, and most important of all: that he loved Yeonjun.

It was a love that Yeonjun knew for sure he will never experience again, but he was okay with that. He and Soobin had loved each other, and he would continue to love him even if he was gone. Even at 30, 60, 90 years old, it would be Soobin who he loved. It would always be Soobin.

It wasn’t until winter that Yeonjun got hired at the bookstore again, with Kai joining him as a co-worker this time because he knew Yeonjun would need emotional support (and because he did _not_ want to be in the middle of Beomgyu and Taehyun's arguments at the supermarket). Yeonjun had finally let go of all the sad emotions he felt around books and decided to think of books in a more positive manner.

(After all, how could he ever hate something that Soobin loved so much?)

Yeonjun _still_ didn’t like reading books.

But he now had a sudden appreciation for them because if it weren’t for books, he would have never met his soulmate, his first and only love, his Soobin. He would have never got to talk to him about life, see the smallest things just put a bright smile on his face, look into his eyes like they were the only two people on Earth.

Even if it was only for five days.


End file.
